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"World of Stone" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1975 on ''Extra Texture (Read All About It)'', his final album for Apple Records. It was also the B-side of the album's lead single, "You". Harrison wrote the song in 1973 but recorded it two years later, following the negative reception afforded his 1974 North American tour and the ''Dark Horse'' album. Due to its context on release, commentators view "World of Stone" as a plea from Harrison for tolerance from his critics. According to some of his biographers, the lyrics reflect Harrison's doubts regarding his devotion to a spiritual path – an apparent crisis of faith that followed his often-unwelcome spiritual pronouncements during the tour, and which permeated his work throughout 1975. Harrison recorded "World of Stone" in Los Angeles with backing from musicians including David Foster, Gary Wright and Klaus Voormann. The downbeat mood of the recording is typical of the ''Extra Texture'' album while also demonstrating the influence of soul music on Harrison's career during this period. Music critics have tended to view the track in an unfavourable light; author Dale Allison describes the song as an "expression of alienation from the world".〔Allison, p. 159.〕 ==Background== Although George Harrison's 1974 album ''Dark Horse'' attracted highly favourable reviews from publications such as ''Melody Maker''〔Brian Harrigan, "Harrison: Eastern Promise", ''Melody Maker'', 21 December 1974, p. 36.〕 and ''Billboard'',〔Bob Kirsch (ed.), ("Top Album Picks" ), ''Billboard'', 21 December 1974, p. 63 (retrieved 27 May 2015).〕 much of the critical reaction to the album was scathing and focused on his near-completed North American tour with co-headliner Ravi Shankar, which took place in November and December that year.〔The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'', p. 46.〕〔Greene, p. 213.〕 Harrison had planned these concerts during a pilgrimage to India in February 1974, midway through a period that was otherwise blighted by rock-star excess and the failure of his marriage to Pattie Boyd.〔Leng, pp. 151, 165.〕 Author Gary Tillery suggests that Harrison envisaged the tour as a development of his acclaimed 1971 Concert for Bangladesh shows,〔Tillery, p. 113.〕 where Shankar's Indian music set and Harrison's spiritually themed rock songs had been warmly received.〔Badman, pp. 44–45.〕〔Greene, pp. 190, 193.〕 "Why not carry the idea further and proselytize?" Tillery writes of Harrison's motivation. "One tour might open tens of thousands of minds to the wisdom found in Eastern mysticism."〔 Harrison's workload throughout 1974, particularly his dedication to setting up Dark Horse Records, as a boutique label to replace the Beatles' fast disintegrating Apple Records,〔Clayson, pp. 345–46.〕〔Snow, p. 72.〕 left him rushing to prepare for the tour by October while also completing ''Dark Horse''.〔Lavezzoli, p. 195.〕〔The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'', p. 44.〕 Another issue that compromised Harrison's enthusiasm for the venture was the attention afforded it as the first US tour by a former Beatle,〔Schaffner, p. 176.〕〔Doggett, pp. 224–25.〕 resulting in a clash between the artist's self-image and the expectations of many critics and concertgoers.〔Leng, p. 166.〕 Among the criticism levelled at him during the tour, Harrison's declarations of his Hindu-aligned religious beliefs came across as harangues rather than uplifting messages to his fans,〔 and were symbolic of what ''NME'' critic Bob Woffinden later described as a "didactic, sermonising mood" on the singer's part.〔Woffinden, p. 83.〕 For the shows' encore, Harrison turned his biggest solo hit, "My Sweet Lord", into an "exhortation to chant God's name", author Alan Clayson writes,〔Clayson, p. 339.〕 be it Krishna, Buddha, Christ or Allah;〔Leng, p. 163.〕 at times during Shankar's set, he chastised the audience for their lack of respect for Indian music and a God-conscious path.〔Greene, pp. 213–14.〕 In a rare interview early in the tour, Harrison also used religiosity to defend his decision to feature few Beatles-era songs in the setlist,〔Schaffner, p. 178.〕 telling Ben Fong-Torres of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine: "Gandhi says create and preserve the image of your choice. The image of my choice is not Beatle George ... My life belongs to the Lord Krishna ... I'm the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna."〔The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'', p. 129.〕〔Ben Fong-Torres, ("Lumbering in the Material World" ), ''Rolling Stone'', 19 December 1974, p. 59.〕 Simon Leng, Harrison's musical biographer, describes the period immediately following the tour as "open season on Harrison".〔Leng, p. 177.〕 Whereas ''Rolling Stone'' had declared in 1973 that Harrison had "inherited the most precious Beatle legacy – the spiritual aura that the group accumulated",〔Stephen Holden, ("George Harrison, ''Living in the Material World''" ), ''Rolling Stone'', 19 July 1973 (retrieved 18 April 2013).〕 now the magazine's album reviewer attacked him for his "insufferable" spiritual preoccupations.〔Huntley, pp. 112–13.〕〔Jim Miller, "George Harrison: ''Dark Horse'' (LP Review)", ''Rolling Stone'', 13 February 1975, p. 180.〕 Writing in the ''NME'', Woffinden similarly dismissed ''Dark Horse'' as "the product of a complete egotist ... someone whose universe is confined to himself. And his guru."〔Bob Woffinden, "George Harrison: ''Dark Horse''", ''NME'', 21 December 1974; available at (Rock's Backpages ) (''subscription required''; retrieved 17 April 2013).〕 Privately, Harrison descended into a "spiritual funk", Tillery writes;〔Tillery, p. 116.〕 another biographer, Joshua Greene, concludes of Harrison's post-tour mindset: "He grappled with the depressing realization that most people simply didn't care to hear about Krishna or maya or getting liberated from birth and death ... A man whose natural instinct was to share his life-transforming discoveries with others had been rejected ..."〔Greene, p. 219.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「World of Stone」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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